A night of memories- aka- crabbin' Dutch Harbor style

I wrote Friday about the first day of King Crab Season. Dh went out again Saturday night and we all got to go. It was so much fun, and just a wonderful night! I took LOTS of pics :)

The crab pots are so amazing to me. Such a simple design but works so well. Here's a friend of ours fixing his pot he was getting ready to go drop.
 At the new small boat harbor ready to get the night started. The weather was pretty nice. Very little wind, and in the low 40's. Not bad for crabbing.
 While we were getting the boat ready, some boys we knew let A help them reel in a scolpin.
 Dh all ready to go.
 My friend Kim came out with us and had a lot of fun.
 Apparently NOAA is in town. This boat is awesome. I so want a tour!
 We were all very happy when we pulled up the first pot and found it full of crab.
 These guys were too little to keep...but it was fun to play with them anyway before throwing them back.

 Now for the real thing!
 Bye baby crabs! A so wanted to keep one for a pet.
 I got to hook a pot for the first time. That was a lot of fun. A little scary leaning over the boat with a hook to grab the rope. I was worried more about dropping the hook into the sea than falling in. The guys would have KILLED me. LOL

 We caught some Tanner crab too. With our subsistence licence, our family can keep 3 King and 36 Tanner a day. Crazy. This Tanner was big enough to be a keeper :)

 Do you think he'll turn into a prince? It's worth a shot right? LOL
 A had such a great time. She loves going out on the boat.

 After checking the pots out in Captain's Bay, we headed over to the spit to check the one we had set over there. I loved these old pillions over there. Not sure what they are from.
 There were no crab in that pot, but there was this HUGE starfish!
 And lots of sea anemones!
 Yep, I had to pose with him. He was slimy and really heavy.
 I had no clue that starfish could have more than 5 arms. After some googling I found they could have more than 20! I believe this guy is a Purple Sunflower Sea Star.

 The guys got tired of us messing around and actually put us to work carrying the crab back to the car. That bucket was HEAVY!
 When we headed back of course it was picture time. Look how massive the King Crab is!

 Tanner and King....wonder who would win in that fight? LOL
 A and her favorite part....playing with them before they go in the pot. It reminds me of when I was about her age growing up in Louisiana and playing with the live crawfish before Uncle John yelled at us that those were dinner and plopped them in the boiling water.
 She did find a small starfish that she brought home. It is a common sunstar I believe.

 We grilled out burgers sometime after 10pm, then headed to bed around 11:30 under this beautiful moon. (And yes, it was still light outside :) )
It was a wonderful night of making memories!

Comments

MommyWise said…
Wow! Again... I'd love your life... for just a little while. What a way to grow up! What a natural education!